Against the background of climate change and limited energy resources, improved energy efficiency in buildings, increased use of renewable energy and energy saving settlement structures gain importance. The European housing stock is a major contributor to energy waste and CO2 emissions. At the same time the refurbishment rate in the new EU member states still is extremely low and sustainable urban development concepts are barely addressed, neither in local, nor regional or national policies in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR).

The project Urb.Energy addresses these issues and aims at the promotion of sustainable, energy efficient urban development strategies in residential areas in the BSR. It combines the approach of integrated urban development with the energy efficient refurbishment (EER) of the building stock, the modernisation of the energy supply infrastructure, the revaluation of the residential environment and the identification of innovative financial instruments.